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\VILLIAM A. GHILDS, OF ENGLEWVOOD, NEY V JERSEY, AND FRANK SHAW, OF NEV YORK, N. Y.

ANNUNCIATOR FOR TELEPHONE SYSTEMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 311,4:72, dated February 3, 18185.

Application filed January 26, 1884. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, WM. A. OnILns and FRANK SHAW, citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, of Englewood, in

5 the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, and of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Annunciators for Use with Electric Switch-Boards, of which the foling is a specification.

Our invention relates to electric telegraph, telephone, or other switch-boards of any kind adapted for making electrical connection be tween any two of a number of telegraph or r telephone lines connected therewith.

Our invention is designed to facilitate the operation of such boards, and is more particularlyintcnded for application to switch boards or tables in which the working parts are disposed in a horizontal plane, and arranged to be accessible to a number of operators at the sides of the table, so that any one of said operators may make any connection called for.

The invention may be applied to any form of horizontal switch-boardas, for instance, that shown in our prior Patent No. 278,613, May 29, 1888. It is not limited, however, to any particular kind of devices for making the electrical connections usual in switch-boards 0 designed for use with telephone or other systems, but may be used with any switchboard in which all the devices are disposed in a horizontal plane, so as to allow two or more operators to attend to the same, in contra- 3 5 distinction to those switch-boards in which all or a portion of the switching devices are arranged in vertical plane, and are divided into sections, to each of which an operator is as- Signed.

Our invention relates more particularly to the peculiar disposition of the electric annunciator by which calls are indicated in tele phone or other systems; and it consists in the combination, with a horizontal switch board or table in which the apparatus for making the necessary connections and disconnections are accessible from the sides, of an annunciator arranged in a horizontal plane above the table, and which is provided with suitable indicator drops, cards, or other devices, whereby the number of the line from which the signal comes may be observed from two or more sides of the table by either of the operators assigned for working the switch-board.

Our invention consists, further, in combinations of parts and details of construction, that will be hereinafter described, and then specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of one form of annunciator mag net and drop which may be used in carrying out our invention, and shows said magnet as suspended from a horizontal bar or plate. Fig. 2 is a face View of the magnet and drop, and shows the latter released to expose its number to view. Fig. 3 is a detail view in vertical section of a device for preventing the drop or card from oscillating when it is released and falls. Fig. 4 is a view looking down upon the drop or card while it is in position to expose the number upon both of its sides to the view of operators at the four sides of a horizontal switch-board. Fig. 5 is a plan of the annunciator case or board, in or on which the annunciator-magnets are disposed in a horizontal plane, and in diagonal lines, so that the drops or cards when released will stand diagonally to the sides of the switchboard, as indicated in Fig. 4 by the arrows, indicating the direction in which the oper- 8o ators view the card. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a switch-board and annunciator combined and arranged according to our invention.

A is a representation of a switch-board of any desired construction, with the devices for making the connections and disconnections usual in this class of apparatus arranged in a horizontal plane on a table or support in such way that the parts of the apparatus are acceso sible from the four sides of the table, andso that any one of four operators arranged about the table may make any desired connection or disconnection upon the board.

The switch devices for connecting any two 5 lines may, if desired, be those described in our prior Patent No. 278,613, or may be of any other form or construction.

The devices for calling subscribers, disconnecting the annunciator magnets, and performing any other of the operations incident to the working of a telephone, telegraph, or

other system, are of the usual or desired construction. I

B B indicate hollow supports or boxes through which the connections are taken to the switch.

D indicates an annunciator disposed in a horizontal or approximately horizontal plane above the switch-board at a sufficient height to leave the switch A readily accessible, and having its drops or indicators so constructed or arranged that the number or indication may be seen from two or more sides of the switch when the card or indicator is dropped or exposed. The annunciator D is supported in any desirable manner above the board, but preferably on hollow posts or pillars E,through which the usual connections for the annunciatonmagnets may be taken.

The annunciator drops or cards F, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2,,are simple plates which have the number or other indication upon both faces, and the magnets are disposed in diagonal lines, as represented in Fig. 5, and are set so that the card or drops will, when released, be disposed diagonally to the sides of the board, so as to permit one or the other of its two sides to be seen from the four sides of the table.

G G indicate an annunciator-magnet the cores of which are bolted to a bar or support, H, while the latter is provided at its top with a rectangular extension adapted for supporting the magnet and other parts from a horizontal bar or plate, I, in the top of the annunciator-case.

K indicates the armature pivoted in brackets K K mounted on a pillar, L, attached to the bar H, and provided with a catch or detent at its lower end which engages with the pivoted drop F in obvious fashion when the latter is in a horizontal position, and holds it until the magnet is energized or de-energizcd, as the case may be, whereupon the pivoted drop is released and swings into a vertical position, so that the number on both sides of the same is brought below the general plane of the lower portions of the drops when caught, and may be read by all of the operators. The plate M on the drop, and'with which the detent engages, is adjustable so that the catch may be made to hold the drop in horizontal plane, either when the armature is attracted or retracted. By this means the annunciator is adapted for use on either a normally-closed or a normally-open circuit.

' In order to bring the card or drop immediately to rest, when it swings down into a vertical plane, and thus prevent it from oscillating,we have provided the spring N, bolted to H with an opening or indentation at P, with which a pin or projection, R, on the drop engages,when the drop falls to vertical position. The pin rubs against the end of the spring in reaching the vertical position, and the motion of the dropisthus somewhat checked. When the pin enters the opening or indentation, further movement backward or forward is immediate] y stopped. The drop may, however, be restored by hand to the horizontal position, where it is caught by the armature, by the application of a little force.

In order that the drop may close the circuit of an alarm-bell, as is usual with this class of apparatus, we mount the spring on an insulating-support, as indicated, and make the usual connections to the spring and to the frame supporting the card or drop, so that the latter will close the bell-circuit through the spring as a back stop.

We do not limit ourselves to any particular construction of the parts of the annunciator. It is only necessarythat they should be so constructed that when the drops, cards, or other devices whereby the number is exposed are released, the number or indication may be read from opposite sides. It is evident that the pin R and the indenture or recess 1? may be transposed.

WVhat we claim as our invention is- 1. An electromagnetic annunciator having its parts disposed in a horizontal instead of a vertical plane, and provided with drops or indicators numbered on opposite faces and arranged in the manner described, so that the drop, when released, may be seen from both sides, as and for the purpose described.

2. An electromagnetic annunciator whose magnets are disposed in the same horizontal plane, and provided with pivoted indicator or number cards, each normally held in a horizontal plane, and arranged, when released, to swing into a vertical plane.

3.. An annunciator having its parts disposed in a plane substantially parallel with but above a horizontal switch-board, said annunciator being provided with cards or indicators suitably constructed or mounted to permit them to be seen from all sides, as and for the purpose described.

4. The combination, with a pivoted annunciator drop normally held in a horizontal plane, of a perforated stop-spring, and a stud upon the drop adapted to enter the perforation, so as to bring the drop to rest in a vertical plane and prevent it from oscillating.

5. The combinatiomwith the vertical armature, of the horizontal pivoted drop, the stud, and the perforated stop-spring, as and for the purpose described.

6. The combination of the drop having stud and the insulated perforated conductingspring, as and for the purpose described.

7. In an electric annunciator whose parts are disposed in a horizontal plane, as described, an annunciator-drop having its indicating number or character upon both sides, as and for the purpose described.

8. The combination, with a pivoted annunciator-drop, and a stop-spring, of a stud or projection, and an opening or recess for said stud, one member carried by the drop, and

the other by the spring, or vice versa, and arranged in the manner described to prevent oscillation of the drop.

9. In a telephone-exchange apparatus hav- York and State of New York, this 24th day ing the switching apparatus arranged in a of January, A. D. 1884. horizontal or substantially horizont-ai' plane,

an annunoiator having its parts disposed in 5 a general horizontal plane above the swit0hing apparatus, as and for the purpose de- Vitnesses:

scribed. J 0s. F. ARNOLD,

Signed at New York, in the county of New ALBERT ZIMMERMANN. 

